Inclusion of RTP – The RTP is integrated into the RMMV engine, along with some character generator parts. It has over 100 sample maps as well.

Multi-Platform Compatibility – The demand for cross-platform development has been extremely high for a while now. RMMV allows creation of games for the following platforms: Windows, MacOSX, Android, iOS and HTML 5. This will prove to be a very useful feature! It also supports both Windows and Mac.

JavaScript – Because it uses JavaScript, more complex routines can be written to control all parts of the game. It appears that this step away from Ruby, used by the 3 next-gen RPG Makers (XP, VX and VXA), is what will make it cross-compatible via HTML5 and JavaScript, making it much more flexible when porting to other platforms. (Time to relearn JS!)

Mouse/Touch Input Support – Support for finger-touching and mouse are embedded into the engine, removing the need for separate mouse scripts.

Battle System Mode – Some people prefer side-view and other prefer front-view battles. Being able to toggle between them will satisfy both.

Larger Database – The number of items (including things like skills, items, weapons, armor, enemy characters, and enemy groups) has been greatly increased from the previous 999 to a nice 2,000!

Automatic Three-Layered Maps – In previous RPG Makers transparent sections of tiles stacked on top of one another. RMMV will switch between upper and lower tiles, making map development much easier and more dynamic.

Increased Screen Resolution – The screen resolution has increased to 816×624. Resources have also increased by 1.5 times; that means that characters, for example, are now 48×48 (as opposed to 32×32 default).

Plugin Manager – A very useful feature, JS files go into the project’s plugin folder. These can be accessed and toggled on or off. This will be a very good addition for debugging instead of relying on interlinked or embedded scripting.

Here’s the video release from Japan showcasing some of the things RMMV will have to offer.

The release date is scheduled for Winter 2015, so there’s really not much longer to wait for it. On the one hand, I’m looking forward to buying this because I’ve been trying to jump onto the "portable" bandwagon and RMMV will allow just this, while keeping the basic RPG Maker tenets we’ve grown to love. On the other hand, it means I now have to learn – more specifically, relearn JavaScript – to be able to produce games with it, so the learning curve may be much greater than Ruby.